Tape Dispenser With Cover

ABSTRACT

A hand-held device for transferring a film of adhesive, covering or coloured material from a backing tape onto a substrate that includes a housing provided with a tip opening through which an application member&#39;s tip protrudes. A cover is provided and is moveable relative to the neck portion from a first position in which the tip of the application member is uncovered to a second position in which the tip of the application member is covered. The cover is transferable between the first and second positions by rotating it relative to the housing, the cover is arranged at the outer surface of a neck portion of the housing.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a national stage application of International Application No. PCT/EP2006/012262, filed on Dec. 12, 2006, which claims priority to European Patent Application No. 06 000 113.8 filed on Jan. 4, 2006, the entire contents of both applications being incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF INVENTION

1. Field of Invention

The embodiments of the present invention relate to a hand-held device for transferring a film of adhesive, covering or coloured material from a backing tape onto a substrate.

2. Description of the Related Art

In prior art, correction tape applicators or applicators for adhesive tape or the like are known. Usually, these applicators comprise a housing and a tip of an application member protruding from the housing, whereby correction tape of the like is guided around this tip. Since correction tape or any other tape used for these types of applicators is very sensitive and the tip is always exposed to the ambience and, thus, to outside influences, it is very likely that the tape is injured or even ruptured, when the applicator is not in use and stored somewhere. Once such a tape ruptures, the entire applicator has to be thrown away. However, there exist some solutions to protect the tape from outside influences, when the applicator is not used. For example, a cap can be provided, which fits on the housing and which is put on the applicator after use. Using such a cap for protection has the disadvantage that it can easily get lost, and then the tip with the tape thereon is unprotected again. Moreover, the applicator is enlarged in size, when a cap is put on the housing, thus, rendering it inconvenient to store.

Another solution known from prior art is to provide a protection member directly on the housing so that it cannot get lost. However, applicators equipped with this kind of protection means usually are hard to handle by a user.

Therefore, an embodiment of the present invention is based on the object to provide a hand-held device for transferring a film of adhesive, covering or coloured material from a backing tape onto a substrate, according to which the application member is reliably protected, when the device is not used, and which is easy to use for a user.

This object is solved by a hand-held device having the features described below.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to an embodiment of the present invention, a hand-held device for transferring a film of adhesive, covering or colored material from a backing tape onto a substrate is provided, comprising a housing. The housing is provided with a tip opening, through which a tip of an application member protrudes. A cover is provided, the cover being moveable on the neck portion from a first position in which the tip of the application member is uncovered to a second position in which the tip of the application member is covered. Preferably the cover is arranged radially outside a neck portion of the housing.

According to the general idea of the embodiments of the present invention. the cover is transferred between the first and the second position by rotating it relative to the housing.

In this regard the cover can e.g. be mounted directly or indirectly on the housing such that it spirals between the first and the second position.

Preferably the tip itself is not rotated when rotating the cover, but fixed in rotation vis-à-vis the housing.

The cover can comprise a first member adapted to spirally move on the outer surface of the neck portion and a second member connected to the first member adapted to cover the tip of the application member in the second position.

By the above-mentioned construction of a hand-held device, the cover stays on the housing, even when the hand-held device is used, so that the cover which is intended to protect the tip when the hand-held device is not in use, cannot get lost. The protection of the tip, moreover, is achieved in a very easy to handle manner in that the cover is moved from a first position in which the tip is uncovered to a second position in which the tip totally disappears inside a cavity formed by the cover, and, thus, is protected against outside influences.

Thereby the cover moves spirally on the outer surface of the neck portion, facilitating the handling for a user, who without any effort can grip the cover between his thumb and the index finger of one hand and move the cover by twisting it. To carry out the twisting motion in the manner described above is much easier for a user than it would be the case, if, e.g., a linear movement would have to be carried out to move the cover in a position to protect the tip. The cover smoothly slides on the surface of the cylindrical portion of the neck, whereby the spiral movement is guided by the two guiding members provided inside the first member of the cover.

Preferably, the outer circumference of the cylindrical portion of the first member is corrugated or provided with ribs or grip ribs, respectively. Thus, a user, whose finger tip and thumb tip rests on the outer circumference of the cylindrical portion of the cover to twist it in either direction for covering or for uncovering the tip of the application member, will not slide off the cover surface with his finger tips, when performing the twisting motion.

Further, the cover itself will not slide off the cylindrical neck portion of the hand-held device, since preferably at least one stop pin is provided on the neck portion, projecting from its circumference and restricting the spiral movement so that the cover cannot slip off the neck portion.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The embodiments of the present invention and further advantages, which can be achieved by the embodiments of the present invention, will now be explained in detail by means of a preferred embodiment with reference to the drawings in which:

FIG. 1 shows an exploded view of the housing and the cover according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 shows a perspective view of the hand-held device according to an embodiment of the present invention, the cover being in the first position; and

FIG. 3 shows a perspective view of the hand-held device according to an embodiment of the present invention, the cover being in the second position.

FIG. 1 shows the hand-held device 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The housing 2 and the cover 3 are illustrated separately in an exploded view. The housing 2 itself has three differently shaped portions: a rear portion 4 having a hemispherical shape, an intermediate portion or main body 5 having a rounded long-stretched or terete shape, and a neck portion 6 provided at a front end of the hand-held device 1. The neck portion 6, moreover, is made up of two differently shaped portions: a cylindrical portion 7 adjacent to the main body 5 and a tapering portion 8, forming the outermost part of the front end of the housing 2.

Projecting from the surface of the cylindrical portion 7 positioned immediately before the transition from the cylindrical portion 7 to the tapering portion 8, there is provided a stop pin 9, against which the cover 3 will abut, when being twisted by a user, and, thus, will not come off the neck portion 6 of the housing 2. The tapering portion 8 only has a very slight taper and at the very front end of the tapering portion 8, there is provided a tip opening 10, through which the tip 11 of an application member 12 protrudes. A correction tape 13 being composed of a backing tape on the surface of which a film of covering material is applied is directed from the cavity formed inside the housing 2 to the application member 12, around an application edge 14 and back into the housing 2 again.

For safe guidance of the correction tape 13 around the tip 11 of the application member 12, the tip 11 preferably has two opposite guiding wings 15, which extend on both sides therefrom substantially perpendicular to form a wall on both sides of the tip 11 such that the correction tape 13 cannot slip off, when the application edge 14 is moved on the surface of a substrate as, e.g., a sheet of paper. A recess 20 is formed in the tapering portion 8 of the neck portion 6. The recess 20 extends from the very front end of the tapering portion 8, where also the tip opening 10 is provided, towards the cylindrical portion 7. The recess 20 is arranged directly above the correction tape 13.

Inside the housing 2 or, in particular, in the cavity formed by the housing 2, a driving mechanism (not shown) is provided for supplying the correction tape 13 to the application member 12 and for taking up the used tape. The driving mechanism can be of any type, as long as the tape 13 is automatically supplied and taken up, when using the hand-held device 1 in that the application edge 14 is moved on a substrate.

Further, the cover 3 is illustrated in FIG. 1, as already mentioned above. As can be seen from the drawing, the cover 3 comprises two main components: a lower cam or first member 16 and an upper cam or second member 17. The first member 16, in an assembled state of the hand-held device 1, is seated on the neck portion 6 of the housing 2. Moreover, the second member 17 is fixedly connected to the first member 16, when the hand-held device 1 is assembled. The first member 16 has a ring-shaped collar 18, the inner diameter of which is slightly larger than the outer diameter of the neck portion 6, so that it fits thereon relatively tight, but however, still has some positive allowance such that the cover 3 can be moved on the neck portion 6.

Two guiding members 19 are arranged on the inner circumference of the ring-shaped collar 18, substantially opposite to each other. Each guiding member 19 is formed with a trailing edge 26, which verges into a steep rising edge 27. Due to this configuration which, moreover, in an assembled state of the hand-held device 1, contacts the outer surface of the cylindrical portion 7 of the neck portion 6 and slides thereon, a spiral movement of the cover 3 on the outer surface of the cylindrical portion 7 is enabled and guided or controlled, respectively, when a user twists the cover 3.

The cover 3 thus is arranged radially outside the neck portion 6. This has the advantage that essentially the entirety of the cover 3 can be easily gripped in order to be manipulated by the fingers of a user. Preferably the cover is entirely exposed to the outside.

A further advantage of this arrangement of the cover 3 outside the neck portion 6 is that thus there is more space available inside the neck portion 6. This is of importance e.g. in order to provide for a clearing between the neck portion 6 and the tip in order to allow a flexible (swinging) movement of the tip.

The screwing mechanism between the cover and the neck portion can comprise a radially acting guiding curve, i.e. one element of the screwing mechanism is arranged radially inside the cover. This can lead to a reduction of the length of the screwing mechanism when compared to a linearly arranged mechanism as it is known e.g. from JP 2005001850. The screwing mechanism according to an embodiment of the present invention is preferably arranged radially inside the cover and not at the rear end as it is known e.g. from JP 2005001850.

The second member 17 of the cover 3 will now be described. The second member 17 substantially corresponds to the shape of the neck portion 6 of the housing 2, but, however, has slightly larger diameters such that it still fits and also can be moved on the neck portion 6. Thus, the second member 17 also has a cylindrical portion 21, the inner diameter of which is just slightly larger than the outer diameter of the cylindrical portion 7 of the neck portion 6, and a tapering portion 22, the inner diameter of which is just slightly larger than the outer diameter of the tapering portion 8 of the neck portion 6.

The surface of outer circumference of the cylindrical portion 21 of the second member 17 is corrugated such that grip rips 23 are formed thereon, to prevent the finger tip and/or thumb tip of a user, who holds the hand-held device 1 in his fingers, to slip off the cover 3, when he twists the cover 3 to cover or uncover, respectively, the application member 12. Here, the grip ribs 23 are provided over the entire surface of the cylindrical portion 21. However, it is also conceivable that they are only provided partially, e.g., just at two positions, where the user should place his finger tips or lengthwise, just covering a portion of the cylindrical portion 21, but still being provided around the entire circumference.

Moreover, the second member 17 has a first opening 22, which is adapted and sized to be slid over the first member 16 and a second opening 25, through which the tip 11 of the application member 12 protrudes, when the hand-held device 1 is being used.

FIG. 2 shows a perspective view of the hand-held device 1 according to the present invention, the cover being in the first position, and FIG. 3 shows a perspective view of the hand-held device according to an embodiment of the present invention, the cover being in the second position. With respect to FIG. 2 and FIG. 3, the operation of the hand-held device 1 will now be explained.

In FIG. 2, the cover 3 of the hand-held device 1 is in the first position, in which the tip 1 of the application member 12 is uncovered, so that the hand-held device 1 is ready for use. In this position, i.e., the first position of the cover 3, the tip 11 of the application member 12 protrudes through the second opening 25 of the cover 3. The cover 3 is in a retracted position here, since the collar 18 of the first member 16 abuts against the main body 5 of the housing 2 and the neck portion 6 of the housing 2 is totally overlapped by the cover 3, so that it cannot be seen from the outside.

After the user terminates using the hand-held device 1, he puts his index finger tip and his thumb tip on the cylindrical portion 21 of the cover 3 and simply twists the cover 3, e.g., 90 degrees (any angle is conceivable depending on the shape of the guiding members), whereby the cover 3 moves along the longitudinal axis L of the hand-held device 1 spirally around the outer circumference of the cylindrical portion 7 of the neck portion 6, on the surface of which the cover 3 slides. When the second position is reached, i.e., when the tip 11 of the application member 12 totally disappears in a cavity formed by the cover 3 and, thus, is completely covered and protected, the stop pin 9 prevents any further movements such that the cover could slip off the neck portion 6 of the housing 2. In this position, which also is an extended position of the cover 3, the hand-held device 1 can be carried along or stored, without any risk that the correction tape 13 gets injured or ruptured. Moreover, in this extended position, a part of the cylindrical portion 7 of the neck portion 6 is uncovered and, thus, visible here. To turn the cover 3 back to the first position, if a user wishes to use the hand-held device 1, it just has to be twisted into the opposite direction (as shown by the respective arrows in FIG. 2 and FIG. 3), whereas this movement is automatically stopped when the collar 18 abuts against the main body 5 of the housing 2. Thus, a reliable protection of the tip 11 carrying the correction tape 13 or the like is achieved by a very simple mechanism, which is very easy to handle for a user.

List of reference numerals  1 hand-held device  2 housing  3 cover  4 rear portion  5 main body  6 neck portion  7 cylindrical portion  8 tapering portion  9 stop pin 10 tip opening 11 tip 12 application member 13 correction tape 14 application edge 15 guiding wing 16 first member 17 second member 18 collar 19 guiding member 20 recess 21 cylindrical portion 22 tapering portion 23 grip ribs 24 first opening 25 second opening L longitudinal axis 

1-20. (canceled)
 21. A hand-held device for transferring a film of material from a backing tape onto a substrate, comprising: a housing provided with an opening through which a tip of an application member protrudes; a cover capable of moving relative to a neck portion from a first position in which the tip of the application member is uncovered to a second position in which the tip of the application member is covered, wherein the cover is moveable between the first and second position by rotating it relative to the housing, the cover being arranged at the outer surface of the neck portion of the housing.
 22. The device according to claim 21, wherein the cover comprises a first member adapted to spirally move on the outer surface of the neck portion of the housing.
 23. The device according to claim 22, wherein the cover comprises a second member connected to the first member and adapted to cover the tip of the application member in the second position.
 24. The hand-held device according to claim 21, wherein the neck portion has a cylindrical portion and a tapering portion.
 25. The hand-held device according to claim 24, wherein at least one stop pin is provided on the cylindrical portion.
 26. The hand-held device according to claim 25, wherein the first member has a ring-shaped collar and two guiding members which are adapted to direct the spiral movement of the cover on the surface of the neck portion.
 27. The hand-held device according to claim 26, wherein the cover can be moved from the first position to the second position by twisting the cover.
 28. The hand-held device according to claim 27, wherein the cover can be moved from the second position to the first position by twisting the cover in a direction opposite to the direction of moving the cover from the first position to the second position.
 29. The hand-held device according to claim 28, wherein the spiral movement is performed on the cylindrical portion of the neck portion.
 30. The hand-held device according to claim 29, wherein the second member has a cylindrical portion and a tapering portion.
 31. The hand-held device according to claim 30, wherein the second member has a first opening and a second opening, whereby the first opening is slid on the first member and the second opening serves as a tip opening for the tip of the application member.
 32. The hand-held device according to claim 31, wherein the first member and second member are fixedly connected to each other.
 33. The hand-held device according to claim 32, wherein a recess is formed in the tapering portion of the neck portion.
 34. The hand-held device according to claim 33, wherein the first position is an extended position.
 35. The hand-held device according to claim 34, wherein the second position is a retracted position.
 36. The hand-held device according to claim 35, wherein the tip is flexible.
 37. The hand-held device according to claim 36, wherein the tip comprises an application edge and two opposite guiding wings.
 38. The hand-held device according to claim 37, wherein the guiding members each have a trailing edge.
 39. The hand-held device according to claim 38, wherein the trailing edge verges into a steep rising edge.
 40. The hand-held device according to claim 39, wherein at least a portion of the cylindrical portion of the second member is corrugated around the outer circumference. 